Change
by Andril
Summary: Crime Sorciere finds Natsu all alone on the train headed back to Magnolia. How will this chance encounter change everything for two of them. Rated M just to be safe. No longer just a one shot! I do not own Fairy Tail.
1. Chapter 1

**{Authors Note} Hi guys. This isn't one of my favorite pairings due to the fact that I'm firmly in the NatsuXErza camp. But, someone asked me to write for this pairing, and since I don't hate it down to the core of my being (Jerza/NaLi) I decided to give it a shot. So here is my offering to those NatsuXUltear lovers out there.**

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><p>Natsu groaned as he lay by himself in a compartment on the train to Magnolia. He had taken a solo job due to extreme boredom a few days ago. Lucy had enough money to pay her rent and so her interest in jobs took a nosedive, Erza was out on an S-class mission and had refused to take him with her, and Gray was too wrapped up in his new relationship with Juvia to take missions with anyone but her. Even Happy had ditched him to try and catch the biggest fish he could find for Carla. Needless to say, Natsu was bored sitting around the guild by himself, hence the solo job.<p>

It had been a simple enough job, capture some bandits and recover the goods that they had stolen. Unfortunately for him, he had destroyed some of said goods and so most of his reward money went to pay back his client. He couldn't care less about the money but he groaned aloud, "At least Lucy wasn't here. She'd have beaten me and then let me ride the train without a lap to lie on. This way at least I don't get beaten."

It was at this moment that, with his enhanced senses, he heard some familiar voices coming through the train car. The first was a woman's voice saying, "All of the compartments over here are full, let's check the other end."

The voices began coming closer and a different woman, with a higher voice, said right outside Natsu's compartment, "There's only one person in this one, plenty of room for us three."

The door to Natsu's compartment slid open and he looked up to see three familiar faces staring back at him. He saw through a haze of nausea Meredy's and Ultear's faces smiling down at him and Jellal's face with a decidedly unhappy look. Ultear said, "Natsu! What a surprise to see you here. Where is everybody?"

Natsu could only groan at her, unable to talk due to the fact that he would probably vomit if he tried. Meredy giggled, "Awww, you poor thing. Well if he can't talk he can't object to us sitting with him." Ultear and Meredy stepped into the compartment. Natsu sat up and scooted over towards the window to make room, and had to lean heavily against the wall. Ultear sat down next to him and Meredy sat across from him, but Jellal still hadn't stepped in.

Both Meredy and Ultear gave him curious looks, Natsu was trying not to look at anything moving, and Jellal muttered, "I'm going to go find something to eat." He quickly closed the door and left to move down the train.

Ultear sighed and turned to look at Natsu, "He's still uncomfortable around you. He thinks you might steal Erza from him, even after the time lapse he's still got those guilt issues."

The train hit a bump in the tracks and everyone was jostled slightly. This slight jostling turned into Natsu accidentally falling over into Ultears lap due to his motion sickness induced weakness. He immediately felt better and was able to reply, "Well, even if I wanted to steal Erza, not that I do, she's pretty head over heels for him. One time I caught her debating which was better: strawberry cake or Jellal."

Both women giggled, although Ultears was slightly hesitant, and Meredy asked, "So which one won?"

Natsu grinned, "She looked so miserable trying to choose so I accidentally," heavy emphasis on the accidentally, "knocked over the plate of cake she was eating and gave her something else to focus on, which was beating me to a pulp."

This sent both women into gales of laughter, slightly confusing Natsu. He said, "What? I didn't want her to be miserable so I took her mind off of it."

When they had calmed down Meredy teased, "You don't think there was a better way than letting her beat you up?"

Natsu thought about it for a second, "Nope. You see, right as I knocked over the plate, I threw my drink at the back of Gray's head. This started a guild wide fight that took Erza forever to put down. By the time it was over, and she had beaten me for both starting the fight and destroying her cake, she forgot all about it."

Ultear smiled down at him, "That was very thoughtful Natsu."

He grinned proudly, "Well, I never want to see Erza's tears again, so anytime it looks like I might, I do my best to cheer her up."

Ultear gave him another smile and Meredy asked, "So Natsu, how can you suddenly speak when you fell down into Ultears lap?"

Natsu shrugged from his horizontal position, "I don't know. This is what Erza does for me every time we're on the train and it always makes me feel better. But she punches me in the stomach to try and knock me out and then puts my head in her lap. This way is much nicer."

He suddenly glanced up fearfully at Ultears face, "I hope you don't mind."

She smiled back at him and said brightly, "Not at all Natsu."

He turned his head back horizontally and yawned. He then said, "Good, because I think I'm about to fall asleep, and you're really comfy." He wrapped his arms around her and snuggled closer into her stomach and very soon was fast asleep.

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><p>Natsu barely woke up when he felt a gentle hand shake his shoulders and a woman say, "Natsu, it's time to get up."<p>

He could feel his arms around someone's waist and he had a comfy pillow so he said, "Five more minutes Lucy, it's not time to get up yet."

He heard two chuckles, which confused him, and the same woman said, "I'm not Lucy Natsu, and if you want to get off the train you have to get up now."

At the mention of getting off a train he jumped upright and opened his eyes wide. He saw Meredy and Ultear looking at him with amused looks and he said with an embarrassed air, "What? You were comfy."

They only giggled and walked out of the compartment. Natsu shrugged and followed them, knowing that he was missing something but guessing that it probably wasn't that important. He followed them off the train and caught up to them on the platform. He asked them, "So, why is Crime Sorciere in Magnolia?"

Ultear turned and said to him, "We just finished up destroying a large dark guild up north and decided that we could use a few days of relaxation. Jellal wanted to visit a certain someone, and Meredy wanted to visit Juvia. I don't have anyone here to visit so I thought I'd just sit around for a few days."

Natsu grinned, "Well, Meredy might have trouble prying Juvia away from Gray. He finally gave in and they're officially a couple."

Meredy also turned to him and squealed, "No way! They are so cute together! I have to go talk to her right now!"

She sped off leaving the other two with mildly stunned looks on their face, which quickly turned to laughter. They both turned to continue walking out of the station. The two mages headed towards the Fairy Tail guildhall, with Ultear keeping her deep hood up to hide her identity. They were chatted nonchalantly about unimportant topics as they walked the short distance to the guild when Natsu spotted Jellal across the street from the hall, staring at the doors.

Natsu said to Ultear, "Give me a moment."

He quickly ran over to Jellal and shoved him into an alley out of sight of the guild hall and Ultear. Jellal let him but shook him off as soon as they were out of sight. He growled at the dragon slayer, "What the hell Natsu?"

Natsu growled right back, "Look Jellal. I don't like you, and it's pretty clear you don't like me. But, I do love Erza like a big sister. I'm tired of seeing her miserable because you're not man enough to take the next step. So man up, go find her, and ask her out on a damn date!"

At this Jellal looked at the ground and mumbled, "But with my past, I just don't think…"

Natsu punched him in the gut making him gasp and double over and said, "She doesn't care about your past. Really, I'm the only one that cares about your past around here. You made her cry, a lot, and that's something that I can't forgive. But obviously she did. She decided that you were worth forgiving because she freaking loves you. So stop wallowing in the past, and look to the future, because if you play it right, it's a pretty damn bright one!"

Jellal looked at him with hope in his eyes, "You really think so?"

Natsu sighed and said, "Yes you moron. But, if you ever make her cry again, I will break your face, got it?"

The blue haired ex-wizard saint nodded mutely. Natsu then said, "Well what are you waiting for, get your ass over to Fairy Hills, sneak into her room, and take her out on a damn date!"

Without another word Jellal ran off, leaving Natsu alone in the alley. Natsu sighed and left, walking back over to where Ultear was standing with a rather morose look. She asked him with a puzzled expression, "What was that about?"

He replied nonchalantly, "Nothing, just some talk between two guys."

He led her over to the guild hall and, feeling the need for a fight to cheer him up, and kicked open the doors to the guild hall screaming, "Gray! Fight me!"

Some eyes turned to him and the figure next to him but most ignored him just as if it was any normal day. However, instead of the normal reaction of Gray hopping out of his seat to charge at Natsu, he only got a hand waved at him, "Not now flame brain, I'm busy."

Natsu looked on in outrage as he saw Meredy and Juvia talking animatedly to each other, but both of Juvia's arms were wrapped around Gray's waist.

He sighed in defeat because he knew that nothing short of a guild wide brawl would draw Gray into a fight. Ultear chuckled, "Cheer up Natsu, I'm sure once we're gone it will go back to normal."

He grumbled and turned away from the guild, stomping away in a huff. Ultear followed him, intent on cheering up the disappointed dragon slayer. He started in the direction of his house on the outskirts of town. She quickly caught up with him and said, "Come on Natsu, what's got you down?"

He shrugged, "Well, the guild is changing, and I don't like change. I want everything to stay exactly how it is."

Ultear looked at him thoughtfully, "What do you mean?"

Natsu said, "Well, Gray is dating Juvia now. I'm sure that after this little visit Erza is going to be making more time for a certain someone. Lucy doesn't want to go on as many missions anymore, we'll always be partners but as soon as she has enough money for rent she locks herself in her house and starts working on her book again. She even locked the window so I can't sneak into her bed anymore!"

His last statement seemed to get the dragon slayer down more than anything. Ultear chuckled at it all and asked, "Why are you sneaking into her bed anyways?"

Natsu shrugged, "Her bed is the best. It's so soft and I always get the best sleep there."

Ultear gave a full throated laugh, throwing back her head in amusement, "You're really something Natsu. Do you know that?"

Natsu grinned at her and stopped to strike what he thought looked like a heroic pose, "Of course I am, I'm Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander!"

He had happened to stop only a dozen yards from his house and when he was done with his pose he asked, "So, do you want to come in?"

Ultear shrugged, "Sure, I don't have anywhere else to go."

He smiled and ran to the door, opening it with ease, which seemed to confuse him. They stepped in and Natsu said, "Well, I was going to apologize for the mess but apparently it's clean." The room was indeed spotless, and it only took Natsu a moment to spot the culprit. He smiled fondly at the sleeping figure of Lucy in his hammock. He waved Ultear back and carefully stepped back outside and closed the door.

Ultear looked at him in confused, "So, what exactly was that?"

Natsu laughed, "Well you see, since I break into Lucy's house so often, sometimes she decides that it's her turn to do the breaking and entering. So, she comes over to my house to surprise me and try to annoy me. I never mind, it's always great to hang out with Lucy. But she always does it at a time when I'm not in town and end's up becoming so bored that she cleans my entire house. This is the first time I've come home to find her still sleeping there though."

Ultear couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, "So why not just wake her up?"

Natsu grinned evilly, "Because now that she's here, I can go hijack her bed for a night! She can't lock me out of her house if she isn't there! Come on!"

He grabbed Ultears hand and pulled her along as they raced back towards Magnolia. Ultear was laughing as they ran, and it only took a few minutes before they were standing in front of Lucy's apartment in the dwindling light of the sunset. He grinned at her and said, "Wait here for a second."

She complied and he ran around to the alley on the side of Lucy's house. He saw her window and almost jumped for joy when it was open. Apparently when he wasn't in town she felt the need for fresh air. He climbed the wall and hopped through the window into her bedroom. He grinned, and ran through the house down to the front door. He quickly unlocked it and flung it open, seeing that Ultear was standing in front of it with an amused expression on her face. He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, quickly shutting the door and re-locking it.

He said, "There, now if she decides to come home tonight, I'll hear her coming and I can escape out the window."

He turned away from Ultear and began rooting around in Lucy's fridge for some fish. Ultear said from behind him, "Don't you think Lucy will be mad if she does find you though?"

Natsu turned and grinned at her, "Yes she will, but she won't be able to stay mad because my logic makes perfect sense. Lucy hates when I sneak into bed with her, so I can't very well get into my own hammock at home because she's in it. I needed a place to sleep and her bed here was empty, so I slept there. Perfectly reasonable."

Ultear grinned back at him, "Why wouldn't you just wake her up and make her go home?"

Natsu got a smirk on his face, "She did clean my house, it would be a bit rude to wake somebody up from a nice sleep."

Ultear laughed and then came over to look in the fridge with him. Together they found some food and ate it, then moved to Lucy's bedroom as it really was the only other room to go too. Ultear sat down at Lucy's desk and Natsu flopped down on her bed. Ultear then said, "So, when you said that Erza was going to be making time for a certain someone, did you mean Jellal?"

Natsu nodded and suddenly his voice became more apathetic, "Yeah, right before we got to the guild I went over and beat some sense into him. I made him go ask out Erza."

Ultear gasped, wide eyed she said, "No way! How did you do it?"

Natsu sat up and shrugged, "I told him to man up and stop thinking about the past, it took a few tries but I finally got him to do it."

Ultear smiled at him, "Meredy and I have been trying to get him to do that for months, and you do it in one day, you really are something Natsu."

Natsu shrugged off her compliments, "Nah, I'm just doing what any good friend would do. Erza was making herself miserable without him so I made it to where she wouldn't be miserable anymore."

Ultear gave him a knowing look, "Not everyone would know which way to look as to the cause of her misery though. You're a very perceptive person Natsu."

Natsu grinned sheepishly, "Well, I'm not as smart as most of my other guild mates, but I read people pretty well. And I'm not as clueless about love as everyone thinks I am. Just because I choose to act so immaturely doesn't mean that I don't know what's going on."

The dark haired woman gave him a curious look, "Why do you act so immature then, if you really are a mature person on the inside."

Natsu flopped back down onto his back and shrugged, "Like I said, I don't want the guild to change. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one not moving forward. Lucy has been dating some guy for three months now, which is ten times as long as any of her other relationships. Gray got together with Juvia, which if she has her way will last forever. Now Erza is going to be happy with Jellal. Hell, even Happy has someone; he actually got Carla to accept one of his fish offerings! That's why he ditched me on the last mission, because he needed to go find a bigger and better fish. I like to think that if I act like the same old Natsu, the guild won't change too much."

He was staring at the ceiling when he felt a weight settle on the bed and glanced over to see Ultear looking down at him. She smiled and said, "Time has to move forward Natsu, that's one thing I know fairly well. One day you'll wake up and find that the others have moved forward with their lives and you haven't and you'll always be stuck. So instead of trying to hold them and yourself back, you should embrace the change."

Natsu looked thoughtfully at her for a few moments and then gave a soft smile, "You're right, if we want to get stronger, something has to change."

Ultear smiled at him then, "You're right, and I know just what to do to get started on the process."

Natsu barely had time to look confused or surprised when she swiftly leaned down and kissed him. She moved her lips gently against his, letting him process what she was doing. It took a moment for his scrambled brain to put itself right, but when it did his instincts took over. He lifted his arms and wrapped them around her body, pulling her down on top of his as he deepened the kiss. He could feel her body shiver against him as his tongue snaked out and lightly ran over her lips. They continued for as long as they could, until they both needed to pull back to catch their breaths.

Natsu stared into her brown eyes as he said shakily, "That… wasn't what I was expecting."

The beauty on top of him chuckled, "You may be perceptive Natsu, but when it comes to yourself you have a gaping blind spot."

Natsu looked questioningly at her and she continued, "You're a nice, happy, and not to mention exceedingly handsome man. Look at what you did today. You put your own prejudice against Jellal aside just so that one of your friends could be happy. You're passionate about what you want to protect and you'll do everything in your extremely considerable power to do so. You're the beating heart of Fairy Tail, Natsu. You brighten everybody's lives just by being there."

He laughed, "And this made you want to kiss me?"

She gave him a sultry smile, "All this talk about changing made me realize a few things. I can't change my past, but I can change my future. So, I decided to start trying to change it right now, with the man that made me realize I could." Natsu shivered as she lightly ran the point of one finger down his chest, left exposed by the vest he wore.

He suddenly moved, flipping her around until he was on top of her. He moved between her legs and pressed himself against her, feeling her body react as her arms moved around him to grip the back of his vest. He moving his head down to whisper right next to her ear in a gravelly voice that sent heat flowing throughout her body, "What exactly are you wanting change then?"

He nibbled on her earlobe which caused her to gasp out the answer, "Everything, I want to change everything."

Natsu left off nibbling and went straight to kissing her, slanting his lips across hers and forcing his tongue into her mouth. She kissed him back with equal fervor, their tongues dancing against each other as she let out a small, happy sigh. He broke off for a moment and said, "I think we can manage that."

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><p>Natsu groaned as he felt the rays of new sunlight hit his eyes. He could feel the back of Ultears body pressed against the front of his, with one of his arms wrapped around her waist and the other being used as her pillow. He was about to pull her tighter against him and try to go back to sleep when the bedroom door burst open and Lucy stomped in. She was muttering to herself, "Damn Natsu, never even came home last night. He told me he'd be home today and I was going to surprise him by breaking into house and showing him how freaking annoying it is."<p>

She stopped when she got a few steps into the room and was shut up by the sight in front of her. Natsu groaned and pulled his arm out from under Ultears head, inadvertently waking the woman up. The sleepy woman murmured, "Natsu, come back, that was comfy."

He propped himself up and said softly to her, "It looks like we have some company."

She cracked her eyes open and saw Lucy gaping at them. Natsu used the arm around her waist to pull her tighter against him as he said to gaping woman, "Morning Lucy, just as loud as usual I see."

Lucy could only work her jaw up and down, trying to find the words for the situation in front of her. She finally screeched, "Why the hell are you in my bed with Ultear! And why the hell are you naked!"

Natsu gave her an amused look, "Why do you think Lucy?"

The blonde woman blushed until she was redder than Erza's hair and then exploded. She started yelling at Natsu but he tuned it out, knowing exactly what she was saying, but not paying any attention to it.

He leaned down to Ultear and muttered, "What is this? Is she really so surprised?"

Ultear smiled up at him and said, "This is change."


	2. Chapter 2

**{A/N} So, since people asked I'll be writing some more for this story. One note: This story makes the assumption that Ultear didn't have to cast the Last Age's spell during the fight with Future Rogue and that they still beat Future Rogue. **

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><p>Natsu was attempting to preserve some modicum of decency as Lucy yelled at him but Ultear was using all the sheets to protect hers. So, Natsu looked at Lucy and said, "I'm getting dressed." before climbing over Ultear and out Lucys bed. This caused the blonde girl to shriek and run out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Natsu chuckled, "I knew that would work."<p>

Ultear gave his body an appraising look, "Wow, can I keep you?"

Natsu turned as he was pulling on his pants and winked at her, "Depends, do I get to keep you?"

She sensually climbed out of the bed and sauntered over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her still naked body to him. She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I don't know, that might take some convincing."

He shivered at her hot breath on his neck and grabbed her neck, turning her head so that he could give her a passionate kiss. The moment though, was ruined when Lucy burst back in saying, "Are you dressed yet we nee…"

The moment the celestial mage saw the scene she froze, not able to take her eyes away from something that, in her mind, shouldn't be able to exist. Natsu broke the kiss with a groan and looked over at the blonde, "Lucy, give us three minutes then we'll go to the guild with you."

The blonde turned and walked mechanically out of the room, not even bothering to shut the door. They could hear the front door open and close as the house's owner left. Ultear pouted, "Three minutes, that's pretty unromantic you know."

Natsu smiled at her, "Unless you want Meredy to seriously try and kill me we should try and get to the guild before Lucy tells them everything."

Ultear frowned, "You know, you might have a point there."

They hurriedly dressed, although Natsu was distracted by all of the bending and twisting that went with putting on Ultear's clothing. Once she'd pulled her cloak on and he'd wrapped his scarf securely around his neck, they set out for the guild. Natsu left by the window, through sheer force of habit, while Ultear quietly walked out the door.

He came around from the alley and met her at the door where she said, "You know, it would have been easier to just use the door."

He shrugged, "Force of habit."

She chuckled as they began making their way to the guild. They were halfway there when the dragon slayers stomach rumbled and he said, "Well, I'm sure the damage is already done, so let's get some food!"

The dark haired beauty next to him laughed and said, "That sounds good to me, do you have a place in mind?"

Natsu shrugged, "No, let's just keep heading to the guild and if we see something good on the way we'll eat there."

Only a few blocks from the guild Natsu spotted a small restaurant, tucked away down a side street. He grabbed Ultear's hand and pulled her towards it saying, "Come on, this looks pretty good."

They walked in and saw that it was a small, cozy little restaurant, just the place to go for breakfast. He glanced at Ultear and said, "How's this for romantic?"

She smiled warmly, "It looks perfect Natsu."

He was about to reply when a head with shockingly red hair popped up from behind the booth next to him. He was startled for a moment when Erza demanded, "What do you mean by romantic Natsu!"

He sighed and looked at her, "What does romantic generally mean Erza?"

She smirked, "I knew that you didn't know. So, romance is when…"

Natsu held out a hand to stop her, "I know what it means Erza."

The red haired woman looked askance as Natsu took Ultear's hand and led her over to a table on the other side of the restaurant. They took a seat and Natsu glanced over at Erza's booth. He could see her sitting there; glaring at him as both her strawberry cake and Jellal were forgotten. Natsu sighed and turned back to Ultear, "She's probably going to kill me later."

Ultear winked at him, "If she does I'll kiss your injuries better."

Natsu could only smirk, "Really now, this sounds interesting."

They were interrupted by the waiter, who took their order and then left. Ultear gave Natsu a bemused look, "I don't think flaming fish is something that most people order for breakfast."

Natsu shrugged, "I'm not most people."

Ultear gave him a lascivious smile, "No, you most certainly are not."

Natsu winked, "I'm glad we sat far away from Erza and Jellal. I can hear them whispering about what they think is going on and I don't want them eavesdropping."

They sat and chatted for a few minutes, furtively glancing over at Erza and Jellal, each time seeing the same thing. Erza glaring at them while Jellal tried to gain her attention back. Their food arrived in short order, and Natsu dug in. He made sure to slow down enough so that food didn't go everywhere, but he was still practically inhaling the flaming fish in front of him. Ultear calmly ate her omelet, not letting Natsu's insanely fast eating disturb her. Before she was even a quarter of the way done he was sitting back, sliding his plate away and patting his stomach. She smiled just before taking a bite, "I'm glad to see that not everything changed."

Natsu could only grin, "Food is serious business."

He waited while she finished, eyes wandering around the room, taking in all of his surroundings. He did notice that Erza and Jellal hadn't moved. Jellal it seemed had finally given up trying to make Erza pay attention to him and was picking morosely at his breakfast. Erza was still glaring in his direction. She caught his eye and made a tiny beckoning gesture, to which he replied with a small shake of his head. This almost caused her to stand up but Jellal grabbed her wrist before she could and said something, saying something that seemed to calm her down.

By this time, Ultear had finished her breakfast and said to him, "Are you ready to go?"

Natsu nodded and pulled out what was left of his reward money and tossed it on the table. Ultear smiled, "You don't have too Natsu, I'm not broke you know."

Natsu winked at her, "Isn't it the man's duty to pay on a date?"

"So this is a date?"

Natsu smiled, "What else would it be?"

Ultear smiled back at him and they headed for the door, both studiously ignoring Erza and Jellal. They exited and as they passed the window in the restaurant, they could see Erza's face almost pressed against the glass watching them. Ultear leaned in to Natsu's ear and whispered, "It seems cruel to leave Erza like that, why don't we explain what's going on?"

Natsu looked at her in confusion, "Why? She'll find out later at the guild."

Ultear chuckled, "Not quite what I had in mind."

She then wrapped her arms sensuously around his neck and kissed him. Natsu immediately got the hint, letting his arms slide around her waist and pull her against him. He deepened the kiss, letting his tongue slide out to skim across her lips. He could feel one of her hands move up and tangle itself in his hair as she shuddered against him and moaned into his mouth. They passionately kissed for a few more moments and then broke it off, both breathing just a bit heavier than normal. Ultear suddenly giggled at what she saw over Natsu's shoulder. He turned his head to see Erza with her face pressed against the window, her jaw gaping open and her face a darker red than her hair. Even Jellal had his face pressed against the window, an extremely surprised expression on his face.

Natsu whispered, "Is that what you had in mind?"

Ultear linked her arm through his as they set off for the guild, "Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind."

She suddenly laughed again, "Did you see the look on Erza's face?"

Natsu laughed with her, "I did. I wonder how long she'll sit there before she snaps out of it. I also hope she doesn't actually kill me."

Ultear bumped him with her hip, "Don't worry, if it comes to that I can collapse the floor under her with my **Arc of Time **to give you time to escape."

Natsu thanked her just as they arrived outside the doors of the guild. He unlinked their arms to go push the doors open but hesitated for a moment. Ultear teased, "Are you nervous Natsu?"

Natsu grinned, "Of course not. If anyone gives me a hard time, I'll just challenge them to a fight and then win."

With that he threw open the doors and they both walked in. Unlike yesterday, all eyes were immediately on the pair and the hall fell silent. They both calmly walked in, feeling the eyes follow them, and went to a table over in a corner to sit down. Natsu whispered, "If we stay quiet, only Gajeel and Wendy will be able to hear us, since they're dragon slayers."

Ultear giggled, "I wonder how long it will be until someo…"

Before she could finish, Gray pounded two fists into the table and stood up. He had been sitting at a table with Meredy, Juvia, and Lucy. Gray shouted, "Alright flame-brain, what the hell did you do to Lucy this morning?"

Natsu did exactly what Gray had done to him yesterday, waving his hand nonchalantly and saying, "Not now ice princess, I'm busy."

Ultear chuckled and Natsu heard muttering from around the guild, all of it wondering what the hell had happened to the dragon slayer. His answer didn't satisfy Gray as he stomped over to Natsu's table and slammed his palms down on it, getting in the dragon slayers face and growling, "Seriously ash-head. What did you do to her? She's barely said a word all morning and she has a haunted look on her face."

Natsu winked at Ultear before leaning forward slightly to whisper to Gray, "Well. She walked in on me and Ultear making out in her room. Ultear was, let's just say Ultear was showing a lot of skin, and I wasn't wearing much either. Does that paint the picture for you stripper?"

Gray didn't respond, only standing there with a catatonic look on his face, as his mind apparently imagined the scene. Natsu grinned, letting fire coalesce around one of his hands, before punching Gray in the face and sending him flying through a wall and out of the guild. As he did so he shouted, "Get out of here you freaking pervert!"

He could hear Ultear chuckle but he looked around the room, wanting to see if Gajeel and Wendy had heard. Apparently they both had, because Wendy was blushing madly, and Gajeel had a grin on his face like a cat. The large man leaned down and muttered something to Levy who was sitting beside him with a worried look on her face. That worried look changed to one of complete shock as she looked at Natsu and Ultear, and then turned to horror as she jumped up and ran over to Lucy. She hugged Lucy and said, "I'm so sorry Lucy. Nobody should have to see that!"

He could hear Meredy ask the Levy, "What? What did she see?"

He turned back to Ultear as Levy explained and murmured, "I think Meredy is about to find out."

Ultear whispered back, "I hope she doesn't freak out."

She freaked out. As soon as Levy was done telling her she stood up and screamed at Natsu, "How could you do that to my mother!"

Natsu also stood up and started waving his hands in a placating way, "Calm down Meredy. What's wrong?"

Things went from bad to worse though, when Erza kicked down the doors and shouted, "Where the hell is Natsu."

The aforementioned dragon slayer muttered to Ultear, "Okay seriously, this is just getting ridiculous."

Both the red head and the pink haired woman marched over to Natsu's table. Meredy went first, "What the hell did you do to my mother?"

He said nervously, "Well, you see…"

He didn't get far when Erza furiously said, "What were you doing at the restaurant with Ultear today!"

He glared at her, "What the hell did it look like? We were out to breakfast!"

Meredy asked, "Why were you at breakfast with my mother!"

He said, "I was hungry, so we went and got some food."

Meredy and Erza's questions began to overlap and Natsu couldn't keep up. He got frustrated and slammed his hands down on the table, standing up quickly. He growled, "Alright. Me and Ultear spent the night together. Then, we went to breakfast this morning. Erza, you have no right to be mad, in fact I think you're being rather ungrateful. If I hadn't told Jellal to grow a pair and man up, you wouldn't have been at that restaurant having your little breakfast date."

He turned to Meredy and said, "Yes, Me and Ultear were together last night… please don't kill me."

He was poised to run if the reactions to his statement turned out to be violent, but Erza went beet red and swiftly turned to escape. Meredy was shaking with anger though, and looked about ready to attack when Ultear suddenly burst out laughing. Everyone in the hall looked at Ultear before she said to Meredy, "Leave him alone, it's not like it's his fault. I started it."

Natsu grinned at the memory, while Meredy blushed madly as she stuttered out, "Wha… What do you mean Ultear?"

She drawled out, "Well, I kissed him, and then things… escalated from there."

Natsu and Ultear looked at each other and smiled at the memory.

The entire hall burst into noise and questions such as, "So what the hell did they do last night?" and, "Did Natsu know what he was doing?" could be heard around the hall.

The second question came from Macao and with absolutely no hesitation Natsu drop kicked him across the hall. He yelled after him, "Of course I knew what I was doing; I'm not a damn moron."

Everyone in the hall, except Ultear and Jellal, stopped talking and yelled at him, "Yes you are Natsu."

He ignited his fists and said, "Come say that to my face."

The only people that weren't pulled into the ensuing guild brawl were the Crime Sorciere mages, the Strauss girls, Erza, Lucy, and the Master. Ultear and Meredy stayed at the table and ignored the brawl, whispering to each other. Lucy hid behind the bar while Mira and Lisanna watched and cleaned mugs. Erza tried to break everything up but was held back by Jellal. The master just sat on the bar and cried, thinking about all the money he'd have to spend to fix the place.

After about twenty minutes of brawling, Natsu finally climbed out of a pile of unconscious Fairy Tail mages and shouted, "I win! So, that means I'm not a moron."

He walked gingerly back over to the table where Ultear and Meredy sat and sat down next to the dark haired woman. He leaned forward and said, "So are you going to kill me?"

Meredy glared at him, but it soon subsided into a defeated look, "No, I'm not. But, if you hurt her, I'll use my magic to sense link you to Cana every time she has a hangover. Every. Single. Time."

Natsu gaped at her, glanced over at Cana, and then glanced back, "Don't you think that's a little much? I think one of Cana's hangovers might actually kill me."

She grinned maliciously at him, "Exactly."

He glanced fearfully at Ultear and said, "She's scary."

Ultear nodded and said fondly, "I know. She's a fantastic daughter."

They began chatting, and were just enjoying each other's company when Erza and Jellal came over to join them. They sat down and Erza said with an embarrassed look, "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. Your actions caught me by surprise, I am sorry. Please hit me"

Natsu grinned at her, "It's surprising to you that I can have romantic feelings?"

She looked down at the table, "I think it's surprised everyone, I mean, you've been sleeping at Lucy's house and you've seen most of the guild women practically naked, but you've never made a move on any of them."

Natsu snorted at her, "I didn't want to change anything in the guild so I never tried hitting on any of the girls. They all would have reacted like you are now and it would have made it incredibly awkward. It's not like I didn't notice or anything. And really, why does everyone think I like Lucy?"

Erza gave him a wry look, "You spend almost every night in the same bed as her, you randomly break into her house all the time, and half the time when you do she's in various stages of undress. You can't tell me that that isn't suggestive."

Natsu scratched his head and shrugged, "Lucy's bed is the best. Plus Lucy and I are team mates. Why shouldn't we hang out all the time?"

The redhead only shook her head with a fond smile and switched topics, "So what did you mean when you said you told Jellal to man up?"

Natsu shrugged, "Exactly what I said, I met them on the train, and me and Jellal had a chat, man to man. I told him to grow a pair and ask you out, because honestly, I was tired of watching you pine for him."

Erza beamed at him, "Well thank you Natsu." She grabbed Jellal and slammed his head into her breastplate in her version of a hug, "It would have been indecent of me to make the first move, I'm glad you finally convinced Jellal to do it."

The pink haired dragon slayer only shrugged again and stood up suddenly saying, "Come on Ultear, let's go for a walk."

She looked confused but followed him out of the guild. Before he left he noticed the curious expression on Meredy's face, the unconscious expression on Jellal's face, and the slightly hurt one on Erza's face.

He had to wait a moment for Ultear to catch up with him at the doors of the guild, but when he did he grabbed her hand and they started walking. He led her to the park and they both sat down under the cherry blossom trees. He was grateful that she waited patiently for him to speak, their hands still linked as they sat next to each other. He finally did with a sigh, "Sorry to drag you out of there. I didn't want to say something I was going to regret to Erza."

Ultear gave him a curious look, "What do you mean?"

He gave a bitter laugh, "I don't think Jellal is good enough for her. Even discounting everything he did during the Tower of Heaven, I still don't think he's good enough for her. He's too wrapped up in himself, and his quest for redemption. He'll never quite forgive himself for what he's done, and so he'll never be able to give himself fully to Erza like she deserves. There will always be something, something that he has to do to redeem himself, not in her eyes because he's already done that, but in his. That's fine, because you have to respect and believe in yourself. But, it's going to end up hurting Erza someday. He's not going to be there when she needs him because he can't forgive himself, even when everybody else has."

Ultear leaned over and put her head on his shoulder, scooting over so that her side was pressed against his. She said quietly, "Couldn't you say the same thing about us? I have to redeem myself just like Jellal has to redeem himself. There are times when I won't be here too."

Natsu smiled down at her and tenderly kissed the top of her head, "Do you know why Erza always wears armor?"

He could feel her shake her head and so continued, "She wears it so that no one can find their way into her heart, and so that something is holding her heart together. It makes her feel safe emotionally. To really love someone, you have to let them in and give them a chance to break your heart. I had my heart broken once when Igneel left, but I was able to put it back together with the help of Fairy Tail. Erza already had her heart broken once by Jellal when they were children. Even if mentally she knows now that it wasn't really him, her heart can't tell the difference. Fairy Tail was able to help, but her heart is still very vulnerable, and to make matters worse, it's Jellal that could do the heart breaking all over again. What I'm trying to say, is that I think I can handle heartbreak, but I don't think that Erza can, especially not from Jellal."

Ultear murmured from her place on his shoulder, "You said it yourself; love is about letting someone in. You have to give her a chance to let Jellal in. You can't always protect everyone Natsu, no matter how hard you try. Sometimes you have to let them go their own way, and that might mean letting them get hurt, but if they do, you can always be there to help heal them."

Natsu thought about her words for a while as they sat in silence, just enjoying each other's company, watching the occasional cherry blossom petal spiral down from the tree they were sitting under. He finally chuckled, "I guess you're right, I can't try and protect her from Jellal forever. Things have to change don't they? I hope you know though, that if he hurts her, he's not going to be very useful to Crime Sorciere for a long while."

He could feel the vibrations in his body as she also chuckled, "I wouldn't expect anything less Natsu, but if you do put him out of commission for a while, you have to take his spot until he's better. And you know that if you beat him, it'll give Erza a chance to nurse him back to health."

Natsu grinned, "You know, I don't think I'd mind any of that. I'd get to spend some time with you, and Jellal would be forced to spend a big block of time with Erza, which really is what I think he needs to get over his complex."

Ultear sat up suddenly and gave him a warning look, shaking her finger at him and saying, "Don't even start thinking about preemptively putting him out of action."

Natsu laughed and waved her off, "Fine I won't. Just come back, I was enjoying that."

She did, laying her head back on his shoulder as he put an arm around her shoulders. He said after a while, "You know, I could get used to this."

She only said sadly, "Well don't, I'm leaving in a few days and I don't know when we'll be back."

He sighed, "Maybe I should go fight the magic council or something. If I beat all of them up maybe they'll give you a pardon."

Ultear only laughed bitterly, "Natsu you come up with the craziest plans. Don't go fight the council; even though it's you, I don't think you would win that one."

Natsu then said contemplatively, "Maybe I can get the King and the Princess to do me a favor. I mean, I did kind of save the world during the Grand Magic Games. If they used their influence with the magic council it might be enough to get you a pardon."

Ultear only replied, "Don't worry about that right now. Let's enjoy our few days together and then worry."

He said softly, "Alright."

They sat under the cherry blossom tree for, watching people go by in the park and enjoying the bright sunny day. After a while Ultear suddenly stood up and stretched before looking down at Natsu with a smirk, "Come on, let's go back to your house, I'm suddenly feeling the need to rip your clothes off again."

Natsu stood up eagerly but then stopped and said with a frown, "I don't have a bed, and I don't think that would work well in a hammock."

She had already taken a few steps away but at his comment looked back over her shoulder and said with a sultry smile, "Who said anything about needing a bed."


End file.
